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Abstract SNAPSHOT USA is a multicontributor, long‐term camera trap survey designed to survey mammals across the United States. Participants are recruited through community networks and directly through a website application (https://www.snapshot-usa.org/). The growing Snapshot dataset is useful, for example, for tracking wildlife population responses to land use, land cover, and climate changes across spatial and temporal scales. Here we present the SNAPSHOT USA 2021 dataset, the third national camera trap survey across the US. Data were collected across 109 camera trap arrays and included 1711 camera sites. The total effort equaled 71,519 camera trap nights and resulted in 172,507 sequences of animal observations. Sampling effort varied among camera trap arrays, with a minimum of 126 camera trap nights, a maximum of 3355 nights, a median 546 nights, and a mean 656 ± 431 nights. This third dataset comprises 51 camera trap arrays that were surveyed during 2019, 2020, and 2021, along with 71 camera trap arrays that were surveyed in 2020 and 2021. All raw data and accompanying metadata are stored on Wildlife Insights (https://www.wildlifeinsights.org/), and are publicly available upon acceptance of the data papers. SNAPSHOT USA aims to sample multiple ecoregions in the United States with adequate representation of each ecoregion according to its relative size. Currently, the relative density of camera trap arrays varies by an order of magnitude for the various ecoregions (0.22–5.9 arrays per 100,000 km2), emphasizing the need to increase sampling effort by further recruiting and retaining contributors. There are no copyright restrictions on these data. We request that authors cite this paper when using these data, or a subset of these data, for publication. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.
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This content will become publicly available on January 1, 2026
SNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023: The First Five Years of Data From a Coordinated Camera Trap Survey of the United States
ABSTRACT MotivationSNAPSHOT USA is an annual, multicontributor camera trap survey of mammals across the United States. The growing SNAPSHOT USA dataset is intended for tracking the spatial and temporal responses of mammal populations to changes in land use, land cover and climate. These data will be useful for exploring the drivers of spatial and temporal changes in relative abundance and distribution, as well as the impacts of species interactions on daily activity patterns. Main Types of Variables ContainedSNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023 contains 987,979 records of camera trap image sequence data and 9694 records of camera trap deployment metadata. Spatial Location and GrainData were collected across the United States of America in all 50 states, 12 ecoregions and many ecosystems. Time Period and GrainData were collected between 1st August and 29th December each year from 2019 to 2023. Major Taxa and Level of MeasurementThe dataset includes a wide range of taxa but is primarily focused on medium to large mammals. Software FormatSNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023 comprises two .csv files. The original data can be found within the SNAPSHOT USA Initiative in the Wildlife Insights platform.
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- PAR ID:
- 10621738
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Global Ecology and Biogeography
- Volume:
- 34
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1466-822X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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